New Start Take On A New Venture

Our good friends over at New Start are very proud and extremely excited to be working in close partnership with YMCA Liverpool & Sefton (YMCAL&S) to deliver a pathway of accommodation-based recovery services for the city of Liverpool. During 2018, Liverpool City Council undertook an exercise to procure a range of services to provide recovery […]

Call For Social Housing To Lift Children Out Of Poverty

More than a million children are living in poverty in privately rented accommodation in England – an increase of almost 70% in the last decade. New research from the National Housing Federation (NHF) has found that almost half of all children living in rented homes live in poverty despite two-thirds of their families being in […]

Homeless Crisis Is ‘Severe’ Say Faith Charities

A two per cent decrease in the number of rough-sleepers in the UK on a single night does not reflect the “severity” of the current homelessness crisis, which would be 40% worse without the work of churches and faith groups, charities have warned. A report from the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government counted 4677 rough-sleepers on […]

Rough Sleeper ‘Snapshot’ for 2018

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have released their annual statistics about the number of people sleeping rough in England. This provides information on the single night snapshot of rough sleeping for autumn 2018. The snapshot is taken annually in England using street counts, evidence-based estimates, and estimates informed by spotlight street counts. Key […]

‘Good Samaritan’ Saves Homeless From Freezing

A concerned citizen has stepped in to save 70 homeless people from record-breaking cold temperatures in Chicago – by paying for their hotel rooms! The city, gripped by a polar vortex, was expected to be colder than Antarctica, Alaska and the North Pole as the wind chill plunged temperatures further to feel like -45C. The Chicago Tribune […]

Cuts To Legal Aid Adds To Homelessness

A lack of early legal advice is causing unnecessary homelessness at huge government expense, writes John Gallagher of Shelter. Legal aid is the neglected arm of the welfare state. At Shelter, we depend on legal aid to advise and represent people facing court actions for possession of their homes or who are homeless but cannot […]

Digital Healthcare For The Homeless

Homeless people in Hastings now have access to medical treatment and support thanks to an innovative digital health care outreach project. So far, the project has helped 122 homeless people in Hastings by using technology to improve how outreach workers respond to the healthcare needs of their clients. The team communicates with St John’s ambulance […]

Scrap ‘Dickensian’ Law That Criminalises The Homeless, Says MP

An MP has organised a parliamentary debate for next week on the law used to criminalise rough sleepers. Oxford West and Abingdon’s Layla Moran says the 1824 Vagrancy Act is outdated, Dickensian and should be scrapped. Ms Moran, who has previously raised the issue at Prime Minister’s questions, says the law is used thousands of […]

Tory Councillor Suspended Over Comments About The Homeless

A councillor who called for tents where homeless people in Cardiff are sleeping to be “torn down” has been suspended from the city’s Conservative group. Councillor Kathryn Kelloway has been suspended from Cardiff’s Conservative Group hours after urging council leader Huw Thomas to take action over tents on Queen Street. On Friday, the councillor was branded […]

Winter Shelters In Liverpool And Manchester Skating On Thin Ice

Two flagship night shelters for the homeless are in trouble, only months after opening to media fanfare. In Liverpool, Signature Living’s ‘Big Brother’-style homeless shelter still doesn’t have planning permission – and likely won’t get it until just before it is due to close. The shelter on Cotton Street, just north of the city centre, […]